US envoy rejects primate's claim

The United States ambassador to Australia yesterday rejected a church leader's comment that Canberra's support for the US stance on Iraq may have triggered the Bali bomb attacks.

Anglican Primate Peter Carnley suggested that the bombings had resulted from Australia's high-profile support of US President George Bush's aggressive posturing on Iraq.

Dr Carnley said it was only a matter of time before Australian lives were sacrificed in some form of retaliatory action.

"I just don't believe that (view)," ambassador Tom Schieffer said after a service at St Paul's Anglican cathedral in Canberra to remember thevictims of the attack. "I don't think we can opt on or opt off the terrorists' list." Terrorists struck for their own reasons and without warning, he said.

"What we all have to recognise is that we're in this together and the values that we hold, whether they're in Australia or America, are the values that are under attack right now," he said.

"We have to do whatever we can to make this a safer, saner world and I think if we do it together we have more chance of success."

Mr Schieffer said Americans shared the sense of grief Australians felt on their national day of mourning. "I've received e-mails at the embassy from people I haven't seen in 30 years," Mr Schieffer said. "They've said to me 'Please tell the Australians that we're with them and we feel for them'."

Mr Downer said that for Dr Carnley to have such a theory he must first know who was behind the attacks. "At this stage we think it is likely but we're not entirely certain that al Qaeda people working with indigenous Islamic extremist groups like Jemaah Islamiah are responsible for the attacks," he said.